KANE, MODEL OF PEARY 199 



of showing how he felt. How hungry they all were for news, and how eagerly 

 they tore open the home letters ; most of them, poor fellows, had pleasant tid- 

 ings, and all were prepared to make the best of bad ones. We were in the 

 harbor, with a fleet of kayaks dancing in welcome around and behind us, before 

 the greetings were half ended, for they repeated themselves over and over 

 again. 



"Our old friend, Mr. Olrik, was with the new comers, and as happy as the 

 rest. His hospitality, when we reached the shore, was absolutely boundless ; and 

 his house and table were always at our service. Altogether, I never passed three 

 more delightful days than those last days at Lievely. Balls every night ; feasts 

 and junketings every day ; and, pleasantest of all, those dear home-like; tea- 

 tables, with shining tea-urn and clear, white sugar, round which we sat, wait- 

 ing for the water to boil, and talking of Russia and the Czar, and the world 

 outside the Circle; while Mrs. Olrik would look up from her worsted-work, 

 and the children pressed round me to see the horses and dogs I was drawing 

 for them. It was enough to make one forget his red flannel shirt and rough 

 Arctic rig." 



